Bush Rescue: Escapade through the Lost Dreams
by Spencer Quinn
Summary: (Set 2 months after Ty 4) Before Cass was frozen for 1000 years, he had gotten a few of his goons to travel through the Dreaming and steal the 10 sacred Bunyip Artefacts, in order to accomplish his plans while he is gone. As the Dreaming falls apart, what happens when our world begins to deteriorate too? Bush Rescue get involved in the mess that Cass has started! Hope you enjoy! ;)
1. Prologue: Nightmares Commence

**Prologue: Nightmares commence**

**3 months ago**

Frills, Blue Tongues and Fire Kangaroos gathered around in the amphitheatre. When they have something to say, it's not generally significant, with the exception of when they actually accomplish something. But when Cass has something to say, _everyone_ here sees it as their "top priority."

"That blasted orange rat has ruined every plan we have come up with so far! There has to be some way to rid of him and those warm-blooded creatures once and for all!" the cassowary announced, with a gleam appearing in his eyes. "And the only way to stop him once and for all is by bringing the whole world down with him."

A wave of murmurs echoed through the crowd.

"In order to do this, we need to get into the Dreaming. I need ten volunteers!"

By this point, a few murmurs sounded, asking "Why do you need volunteers?"

Cass groaned. "I need ten volunteers to go into the Dreaming and retrieve the 10 sacred Bunyip Artefacts. They are the only life force for their world and ours. When the Artefacts are removed, they will slowly destroy the centre core, LEAVING NO EVIDENCE THAT MAMMALS EVER EXISTED! The reptiles will soon rule the world!"

A chorus of cheers rippled through the crowd, and finally, Cass felt like he was going to win this time.

* * *

**That's it for the prologue and all I'm giving away before the first chapter. Sorry. **

**Hope you enjoyed! ;)**


	2. Chapter 1: You know it's the end when

**Chapter 1: You know it's the end when…**

**Flashback—5 months ago**  
It's been eight hours now, and the water was rising fast. Vite and Sly at the moment were getting the townies up to higher ground and out of the way of the water.

"Do not leave your children unattended, keep your hands and arms inside the barrier at all times and if—" Vite started broadcasting.

"Will you please stop!?" Sly cut in, annoyed.

Meanwhile, Plat and Ridge were standing atop the higher ground with the safe townies and helping up the ones climbing.

"Five hours," Plat said again to her brother, who just looked over and frowned at her. "Five _hours._ Struth! Five hours!"

"Stop saying that, Plat," Ridge spoke up as he helped up another person.

"But seriously! It's been five hours for the flood waters to rise and it's only hit halfway in _eight_ hours!" The cream tigress hauled up three bilby kids and placed them on the ground. "Is that the last of them?"

"Still those two down there," the dark tiger said.

"I think that's the last of them," Vite said, lifting up the last person, "let's scram!" he exclaimed, preparing to climb the cliff.

Sly held his arm out. "Wait!" he said, squinting into the water. Then his eyes widened and suddenly he's diving into the water.

"Sly!" the gold tiger shouted as his cousin disappeared. He scanned the waters, hoping to see the rusty tiger emerge. But that hope must've had a cruel sense of humor. _Oh, why now? _He thought to himself. Vite paced back and forth on the small ledge he was standing on and, at the two minute mark, dove in after him.

"Ridge! Plat!" a voice shouted from in the crowd. The two siblings turned around to see Ty running through the crowd Maurie flying over the crowd.

They both scratched the back of their heads. "Hi," Ridge said, looking as edgy as heck.

"Is that all of them? The water's rising fast," Ty said, nervously.

"I'm quite aware of that, but there were two more guys down there and they rhyme with 'BITE me' and 'FLY'," Plat said, putting emphasis on Bite and Fly.

"The water's up to the shore," Wings reported.

"Sly and Vite are still down there?" Maurie asked.

"It's been ten minutes now, I better get down there," Ridge said, advancing to the edge and being stopped by his sister. "Hold on, look."

Suddenly, Sly and Vite emerged to the surface, coughing. Vite glared at the elder as he was digging a finger into his ear. Sly, having noticed the hard glare burning into his head, turned to him. "What's up?"

"You swam to the bottom just to get a _pocket knife!?"_

Sly lifted the knife—the blade was made of silver, the hilt of koala bone and a glowing fire opal lodged inside the hilt. "What? Fluffy gave me this—I'm not getting rid of it!"

Terra facepalmed. "I thought _I_ acted immature. Nope, _they_ just had to top it off!" she said, wryly, pointing at Sly and Vite.

"Struth, I don't think I'd be able to keep my mouth closed for _that_ long," Mikey said as he pulled Vite to shore, Sly was dog-paddling closely behind with his knife in hand. When he was hauled onto shore, the two fell over.

"Blimey, I can't even feel my legs anymore!" Vite mumbled.

"Oh, seadogs, your legs aren't land-worthy!" Terra laughed. She looked at the water with a slightly worried look. "It's gone…what do we do now?"

Shazza looked over at the mound of belongings and the forest that was behind it. "We can rebuild it."

Ty smiled. They may have lost everything except their team spirit, but Boss Cass hasn't won yet.

* * *

**7.00am****—****Present Day**  
The members of Bush Rescue had finally been adapted to Coolarangah and the jobs they were going to be set—delivery missions, training, field assignments and small domestic jobs. The adventure, wit and skill was already set in their blood, now they just had to put it back to action.

Ty jumped out of his makeshift bed, stretched his limbs and then walked into the kitchen to go check the Bush Rescue Call sheet.

Nobody needed help today.

This was a very rare occasion, especially after New Burramudgee was destroyed, and Ty was willing to put this to good use. Straight after breakfast, though, because last night he accidentally skipped dinner to do one last job—and he was starving!

Once he'd served himself breakfast—a bowl of cereal with a glass of juice—his brother came stumbling in the hallway sleepily from Julius' lab.

"Morning Sly...remind me next time not to skip dinner again," he greeted.

"Right. Remind me not to go to sleep after 2 in the morning, bro," Sly grumbled, rubbing his eyes and walking over to sit next to his brother.

"What were you doing last night?"

"Working on a few prototypes...which reminds me, I want you to test some of 'em out today."

There was a crash outside which made the two brothers jump slightly. Ty looked at Sly with a perceptive look, and they both ran outside to see Ridge tripping over his own feet carrying three boxes of Thunder Eggs.

"Huh. Morning Ridge!" Sly called out. The darker tiger, who was busy brushing himself off, rose to his feet and managed to pull of a small smile—though most of the annoyance seemed to appear in it. The brothers walked over to their friend. "Need a hand, mate?"

"That won't be..." Ridge started to protest, but then he knew that he couldn't carry as much as three tons of rocks with their cores exposed, so he just gave up convincing himself that he can. "Yeah, fine."

"Crikey, did Dennis set you up to a job in mining or something?" Ty grunted, picking up one of the boxes and almost dropped it again from how heavy it was.

"I saw something in one of those boxes and it's been bothering me for a while."

"Another Thunder egg, maybe?" Sly asked, wittily.

"No, this is serious. There was something gold in there and it flashed in my eye—hence why I tripped in the first place."

"Gold?" the orange tiger queried. He put down the box he was carrying and then opened it, searching for the object the eldest was talking about. He grabbed a hold of something sleek, instead of the rough contours of a Thunder Egg, and pulled it out of the box. Ridge shielded his eyes from the glint of gold in the sunlight and then stared at the object in confusion. "That's it. How did that get in there?"

In the orange Thylacine's hand was one of the Bunyip Talismans. And the reaction of the talisman with Ty's Bunyip gauntlet managed to bring chaos onto the area. First a bright light began to shine on the gauntlet, and the light began to expand, then shards of energy began to shoot from the talisman around the airstrip, causing the three to run around dodging the projectiles. One shot past and glided across Ty's back. Another skimmed across Sly's muzzle. Ridge narrowly dodged one that was coming for his head but was struck by another which scratched his arm.

When the light faded, they found themselves somewhere else. They were in a dark void, with strange patterns in the skies which glowed every time there was a flash of lightning. Ty recognized the place almost instantly.

"Guys, I think we're in the Dreaming," he told Sly and Ridge.

Sly rubbed the scratch forming on his muzzle. "Great." Anger flared in his icy eyes, but his face was dangerously relaxed. Ridge stared at him in alarm, but kept his intentions to getting out of this place.

"How did you get out of here last time, Ty?" the dark tiger asked, trying to avoid Sly's fierce glare into the middle-distance—for all he knew a glare like that could burn holes into the side of people's heads.

"Shaz and I made it to the top of the citadel up there and Nandu Gilli the Bunyip Elder sent us back through the portal...but I don't see it in this place."

Suddenly a light appeared out of nowhere and made the three tigers step back in alarm. Ty's figure relaxed a little when he realized what it was. It was a holographic message of the Bunyip Elder.

_"Ty, I'm afraid I have brought you here under limited circumstances." _

"This is creepy," Ridge said, swiping his hand through the hologram.

_"Should the Bunyip gauntlet ever come into contact with an ancient talisman, a failsafe will commence to send you to the Dreaming. And of course, that would mean that the time has come for the ultimate threat to your world and ours." _

"Ultimate threat? I thought the Quinkan would be the Ultimate Threat to both our worlds," Sly said.

_"This world now has been drained of life, as it seems Boss Cass is in the process of harnessing the Bunyips' power to create an unstoppable army to take over both worlds. He required all ten of the Bunyip protectors' power and thus far has absorbed the energy of three. What I know is the Bunyip Protectors have lost three of the ten sacred artefacts. And you will need to find these relics before more damage is done to both our worlds." _

A vortex quickly opened in place of the hologram, swallowing the tigers and sending them falling into a dizzying void of light.

* * *

**7.15am**  
The three came flying out of the portal and landing outside of Bush Rescue HQ...and right in front of Shazza, Maurie and Dennis. Ty shook his head and looked up to see them. Sly and Ridge sat up with bruises forming on their heads.

"Cass. It _had_ to be Cass. Why did it _HAVE TO BE CASS?!_" Sly said, increasingly getting louder.

"Struth! Where did you lot come from?" Maurie exclaimed as he pulled Ty to his feet.

"Uh, well—" Ty began but was cut off by Dennis' sudden outburst.

"My precious thunder eggs!" he cried, causing all three tigers to sweatdrop anxiously as he ran over to the boxes on the airstrip. "Are they okay?"

"Hopefully...if most of them seem broken then you can blame the Bunyip Elder for that!" Ridge called out, yelping as Sly elbowed his side.

"The Bunyip Elder?" Shazza asked, but then she realized what happened—the boys were in the Dreaming. "Possum, what were you guys doing in the Dreaming?"

"I don't know, but he said something about—"

"—about the power of the Bunyips being harnessed by Cass and that he required the power of ten Bunyip protectors_—_and he's already downed three of them," Sly finished.

"Did he say anything else after that?"

"Er...'If the Dreaming goes down then so does our world.'"

Maurie sat there thinking it over and then looked at them all. "Looks like we got ourselves a new mission. And if Cass is involved in this, then it's our job to get to it before anything else starts happening."

Plat, Ridge's younger sister and one of the new recruits, ran over to the group with a concerned look on her face. "Hey, Maurie! Guys! Look at this," she called. She held her hands out and showed that she had a piece of bark in her hands. The bark suddenly started withering away into dust, and the group stood back in alarm. "Something's not right, here."

Ty and Sly looked at each other anxiously, sharing the same thought: _It's already starting!_

* * *

**Dun dun DUUUUUUUUUUUUUN! **

**So you know it's the end when a Bunyip Elder summons you and everything starts turning to dust. **


	3. Chapter 2: Explanations

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Ty or any of his friends (property of Krome Studios), but I do own Vite, Plat, Mikey, Terra and Wings. **

**Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

**Episode 2: Explanations**

**7.30am**  
"Can you tell us what the flaming heck is going on here?" Vite asked as he watched some of the trees droop. This was a little alarming, seeing how life was suddenly dying in front of them.

"Conveniently enough, Vite," Plat announced, slapping her brother on the back and causing Ridge to frown at her, "your cousins and my brother already know what's going on."

"Really? And how long have you known?" Vite asked, advancing forward with a frown, his asymmetric eyes blazing. This was the first time his cousins had seen him angry—and it actually startled them. Ty backed up and Sly ended up pulling out his Deadlyrangs—which was not something he did often.

"Hey, we just found out _two minutes_ ago, kid," Ridge said, glaring back. Vite stood down, now looking a little embarrassed and gauche—the dark tiger's glare was a lot icier than his was.

"Oh. Do you know what's happening then?"

"Not entirely. Except that the Dreaming is falling apart and, if we don't save it, then our world is going to die with it," Ty said.

"As you can see, it's already started because Cass arranged a few guys to—" Sly started to explain, but he was cut off.

"Wait a second!" Terra exclaimed. "Boss Cass? I thought you said he was out of it!"

"He was! He must've sent some of his guys into the Dreaming beforehand. They've already downed three of the guardians."

"What? How many are left?"

"Seven, Tez."

"SO WE HAVE TO SAVE TEN OF THESE GUYS!?" the youngest shouted. The tawny-brown tiger shook his head in annoyance—he was losing this argument to a kid that was nine years younger than him.

"Hey, _children_," Plat said, getting in between the two and pushing them apart. "Can we save the arguing at a better time? A time when the world _isn't_ falling to pieces."

"Vite, you go get the others while we try to figure out how to get into the Dreaming again," Ty said. Vite nodded and ran off to the HQ.

"How do you suppose we're going to pull that off?" Plat asked.

"You need a nerd on the case. Where's Wings when you need him?" Terra asked.

"SOMEBODY ASKED FOR ME?!" a high-pitched boy's voice asked from up above. The dingo looked up to see a grey parrot with green, blue and yellow plumes on his head fly towards them.

"Oh good. Nerd is here, everybody."

"Great, Wings. Glad you're here. You've learnt a lot about Bunyip mythology, right?"

"Yep. I recall reading it again last week, actually."

The youngest of the group pulled out a notebook. "Bunyip Mythology—15 times now," she said with a grin.

"Did it say anything about how to activate a portal into the Dreaming?" Ty asked.

"Move!" Ridge abruptly shouted. He pushed Wings and Terra out of the way while Ty pulled Sly and Plat out of the way of a falling tree which soon turned to dust. "This is getting ridiculous. Wings, just tell us how to open up a portal and get into the Dreaming again." The dark grey tiger saw another tree beginning to droop. "Make it quick," he added, immediately.

"We need a Bunyip Gauntlet—"

The youngest tiger lifted his right wrist. "Check."

"—a Talisman—"

Sly pulled out the talisman. "Got it."

"—and a Thunder Egg."

Plat sweatdropped. "It _had_ to be a Thunder Egg, didn't it?" she muttered, faintly. She looked up and brusquely shoved everyone to the side. Then the cream tigress jumped out of the way of a falling tree, doing a quick somersault and landing on her feet. "Why couldn't it just be a Rainbow Scale—we have plenty of them."

"Mate, we don't just walk calmly up to Dennis and ask if we could _"borrow"_ one of his Thunder Eggs!" the rusty tiger exclaimed.

"No, we go up to that cheap gallery he built a few months ago and pinch one of those ones," Terra put forward, cheekily. But then everyone looked at her with a look she didn't really like. "What?"

* * *

"And _that's_ why we need a Thunder Egg, Dennis," Terra said. Ridge, Plat and Wings were wincing at how direct and laidback she sounded.

The group getting attacked by falling trees had finally caught up with everyone back at the Bush Rescue hub, where everyone was wondering what the heck was happening with all the trees outside. They'd gotten a brief explanation out of Ty and Sly, but Ridge was sidetracked with trying to get permission from Dennis to use a Thunder Egg.

The dingo sighed, calmly. "I think that went rather well. You guys can explain the rest."

"Err…" Wings said with a sheepish look. "We already have the Bunyip Gauntlet, right?"

"Yes," Dennis said, still not quite getting what they were trying to say.

"And then the Talisman appeared in your box of treasures," Plat said.

"Really? I did a thorough check to see if there was anything else. Strange..."

"But then it must've been activated by the Thunder Eggs," Ridge said.

"Oh, I see now!" the tree frog exclaimed. "The compound in the core of the Thunder Eggs must have caused some kind of reaction to occur!" He tapped his head. "Simple chemistry, you see."

Ridge and Plat looked at each other, sweatdropping. "Sure…yeah, that's it," they both said slowly, scratching their heads.

The pink-headed dingo shook her head. "That ain't simple ch—" she started, but the two tiger siblings knew she was about to say something brutally honest. The cream tigress slammed her hand on her mouth.

"Hey, Tez! What's that?" the darker tiger exclaimed, pointing at something and pushing her away. He then dusted off his hands. "Problem solved."

"But before we all decide to make any rash decisions, I need to check if they're in one place—makes it a lot easier if they are," Julius said, typing something into the computer he was working at. Wings, his little assistant, hovered closely nearby. His eyes widened at the results they got. "Oh dear."

"What? Whenever someone says that, the only thing I could think of is 'Holy shitake mushrooms, this is bad,'" Plat said, anxious about the results.

"Dang. The ten artefacts are spread out throughout different dimensions all over the Dreaming," Wings announced as he viewed the map on the projector screen to show everyone. "If we're going to gather them then we need ten people." The five new recruits quickly raised their hands, followed slowly by Ty, Shazza, Sly, Ridge and Naomi.

"Okay, so does anybody here know why _we_ were chosen to get these Bunyip artefacts? The five of us hadn't even stepped outside of Currawong before we met you lot," Mikey added, leaning against the wall.

"You aren't the only one wondering that. Only four of us have _ever_ made it into the Dreaming," Dennis spoke up, gesturing to Ty, Sly, Ridge and Shazza.

"That means you lot go into the Dreaming with the new field recruits, okay? Whatever Cass is planning involves these ten Bunyip artefacts and we need to keep them out of his reach," Maurie said.

"Righto," Ty said. Sly held his hand over his head like a kid trying to ask a teacher a question.

"Just one problem," he said, frowning a little. "How do we know where we're going? The artefacts are spread out in different regions."

"Why don't we find one artefact each for now?" Terra asked.

The parrot stared at the youngest member. "One artefact each? We have to split up into the dimensions?!" he asked, freaking out.

"Stop squawking, Wings!" the pink-haired dingo shouted. "I meant _one_ of us should find one each while at the same time the rest of us should find any leads on Cass's plans."

"So..." Ty started, then clicked his fingers. "I get it. We do it in a routine. Each one of us gets a turn at finding one of the artefacts and meanwhile the rest of us go around looking for those leads." A smile formed. "Nice plan, Pinky."

"Thank you, Mr. Possum."

* * *

**That explains a lot, really. That's all I have to say. **


	4. Chapter 3: The Fear of Power

**This chapter is longer than the others, I think. This chapter is going to include one of the energetic and most **_**frustrating**_** duos of the Bush Rescue Team. Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Fear of Power**

**3.00am**  
It was early the next morning...and Vite couldn't sleep. He'd been thinking too much about those artefacts—and he didn't usually think so much on such a high level. But, seriously, who would want their whole world turned into an arctic rock dominated by a cold-blooded turkey?

He was presently slinking into Julius' lab and got a hold of the flash drive holding all the locations of the artefacts in the Dreaming, quickly scribbling up a little note on the back of a piece of paper. "Sorry, Julius," he whispered before dashing out to the dorms.

The dark gold tiger then tiptoed up to a door and knocked on it just loud enough for only the person behind the door to hear. "Cuz, you up?"

On the other side of the door, Sly was having panicky, stressful thoughts of his own—in particular, about Boss Cass. The Bunyip Artefacts were the least of his worries, but if Cass wanted something, then that could only mean that they're more than important. And dangerous.

When Cass wanted the five Bunyip Talismans, Sly had almost hurt his brother and it even caused their own lives to be in jeopardy. Then the time Cass wanted to get rid of the Quinking to rule Southern Rivers, which had cost his best friend's life...

The rusty tiger shook his head, brushing a few tears trickling down his face. No, Fluffy wouldn't want him to cry—she'd want him to be strong.

"Sly?" Vite's voice sounded on the other side of the door, a little louder this time.

"What?"

"You up?"

"Whaddya want, Vite? It's...it's 3 in the morning."

Vite tuned his back to the door and slid down it till he sat on the ground. "Well…*sigh* this may be a stupid question, but…" he started, rubbing the back of his neck. Then he raised an eyebrow. "You're listening, right?"

"Nope—this is getting nowhere very quickly," Sly said, idly, on the other side of the door. Vite groaned.

"I can see that. Listen closely."

"I'm all ears."

"…okay. Julius is probably going to kill me, but I did some scavenging. Those Bunyip artefacts we're supposed to be looking for…are their energy signatures supposed to be changing?"

The door flung open and Vite yelped as he fell backwards. Sly looked down at him as he crouched down to his level. "What do you mean they're _changing_?"

"Uhh…I mean that two of them aren't even in the Dreaming anymore."

"Vite, how can they change their locations?"

"Well, you said that the frills were in the Dreaming trying to pinch the artefacts, so I just thought that maybe they get out of the Dreaming and…did you notice that it's colder than usual?"

"Honestly…yeah, I did. Normally, it wouldn't be this cold at _all."_

"See? That must have been one of the artefacts they'd taken out! And I'm not leaving here till you say you're up for an adventure!"

The russet tiger's ear twitched and he quickly quietened him by slamming his hand on the younger's mouth. "Be quiet, will ya?" He sighed tensely as he heard the noise recede. "Okay, say I go with you on this whole suicide mission you have planned, can you just stop talking about this?"

Vite nodded. "Deal."

Sly gestured over to the door. "Meet me out by the lake—I want to see what's happening down that way."

The younger tiger nodded and crept out the door. The elder looked over at his desk and wrote a short note.

...

Vite saw his cousin bounding down the hill to the lake.

"Cuz, Look!" he exclaimed. Sly wasn't able to see clearly from his current position, but he could already feel it. It was sub-zero out here! Something wasn't right. And with that thought in mind, he jumped and glided down to the bottom where his musings turned into reality. A thin sheen of ice was spreading over the lake, and becoming progressively thicker every thirty seconds.

"This is bad, Sly. Tides of change might be turning into a real detail in this place."

"If Cass is behind this, then we're going to have to get something out of the next in command at the moment."

"Which is who?"

"It's not me, for sure. It's not Fluffy anymore. I guess we'll find out once we get there."

"Hold on, we're actually going through with this now?"

"I don't know, it was _your _idea! Now I guess I'm leading it. Come on."

"Is it safe to say that I regret this choice now?" Vite asked as the two ran silently across the shore.

**7.00am: **  
When it was a little lighter and sprightlier, Terra and Wings were awake and ready to start the day.

"I think breakfast first and then going to annoy Vite," Wings suggested.

"I thought you said you had things to do at the lab today."

"Okay, then I guess I'm _not_ annoying Vite today. Tez, can you bear two hours of annoying him for today?"

Plat walked past them. "Hey, either of you two seen Vite?"

The parrot froze. "What? No."

The tigress sighed. "Okay, that's a start…I guess."

Ridge was already making his way up to Julius' lab, noticing a failed attempt at a sneaky getaway on the track. "Er, Julius? You in there?" he called inside, carefully.

"Ah, Ridge, my boy! Come on in!" the scientist's voice exclaimed from behind a few reams of paper.

"Someone broke in?"

"Yes, but they only took the flash drive containing the locations of the Bunyip Artefacts. Oh! And they also left this!" Julius handed him a piece of paper, which clearly stated only three letters.

_I.O.U. _

The dark tiger sighed in annoyance and walked outside. "Plat, stop!" he called just as she was scurrying past. She skidded to a halt and looked at her brother.

"Hello, brother!" she greeted, looking a little rushed. "Listen, can we chat later?"

"I think I got a lead."

"What?"

He handed her the piece of paper and she stared at it. Five seconds passed and she facepalmed. "What'd he take, Julius?"

"The flash drive. Do you know who it was?"

The cream tiger nodded. "I have that sinking feeling again, so yeah."

**7.15am**  
"Well, that explains a lot. Sly's not here either," Ty said, once Plat and Ridge told everyone about the missing Tasmanian tiger and flash drive.

"That's helpful," Plat replied, acerbically, at the 'missing brother' information.

"This is telling us something. _Suicide pact_, I tell you!" Terra said in a cheeky tone, wagging her finger.

"Tez, shut it," Ridge said.

"_Su-u-uicide," _the pink-headed dingo said in a ghostly tone, getting right up in his face. She smirked when he stepped away from her.

"I think it's official that Sly and Vite are just full-on scallywags when they're together!" Maurie said.

Plat nodded with a thoughtful look on her face. "I think that an ankle-biter could have told you that sooner. But they might actually come in handy if we're trying to stop a power-driven enthusiast."

Terra clicked her fingers. "They could be the main feature to the missions and distract everybody!" she cried.

(Awkward chirping cricket moment.)

"What? Did I say something?"

"Anyway, if Cass is involved in this, I bet top dollar that they've gone to Cassablanca."

"And knowing ol' Vite, yeah, that's probably right."

"I'll go after them—those two have no idea what they're getting into," Ty announced. Ridge looked at him quickly.

"Whoa, whoa,_ whoa!_ There's no way you're leaving without me, Tiger, I'm not missing out on all the fun!" he said.

"Go crazy, bro, for all I care! I got work to do," the cream tigress said, looking down at her watch.

**Meanwhile…**  
Vite broke the surface of the water, coughing. "Seriously, Sly! I have _no_ idea how you could stay underwater for that long! You must be part fish."

"Er…thanks?" Sly replied, not entirely sure how to answer that question. He looked up and around and realized they were both on the shores of Cassablanca. The younger tiger cringed. "Y'know, now that I think of it, this was a bad idea."

"You dragged me into it—really, cuz, it's _your_ fault."

"I realized." On those final words they were off, trekking through the island.

It was by the time they'd reached the center of the island that they knew something was going on. There was a vortex in the middle of the clearing and frills were scattering from it. The main one, if Sly's knowledge was right, was wielding something that looked like a cherry red disk with a flame carving on it and a similar glowing blue disk that had wave carvings on it.

"That looks appealing," Vite said.

"That must be two of the Bunyip artefacts!" Sly told him. "That must be where all the heat's going…" He grabbed his cousin's wrist gently. "We need to go tell the others."

They only took two steps and the security system went off!

"Well, so much for _Sly_, cuz!" the gold tiger shouted over the noise of the sirens.

"Shut it, Vite!" the eldest shouted

…

"Boss! We got them!" one of the frills that were dragging Vite cried.

"Hmm, if it isn't Sly the Tasmanian Tiger," an old raspy voice said. "Long time, no see."

"Karlos," Sly snarled, now realizing who the person in command was. But he's a flipping mammal—he wouldn't survive the extreme cold!

His feral companion crouched down to Vite's level. "And what is this thing?" she asked.

"I'm a dishrag," Vite said sarcastically. "What does it _look_ like!? I'm a Tasmanian Tiger!"

"Your little _dishrag_ has an attitude, Sly!" Karlos' rabbit companion said, hopping down the steps.

"What are you guys doing working for Cass!?"

The feral smiled. "He wants revenge on Bush Rescue, we're continuing his legacy."

"Do you even _know_ what he's planning?"

"If it involves revenge on you then we know this is going to end our way. Frills! Where are the artefacts!?"

Two frills came scurrying in, clasping the red and blue disks. The one holding the blue disk ran over and robustly shoved it into Vite's chest.

"Ow! Hey! Watch the merchandise!" he shouted. The artefact turned into a thick stream of blue light which suddenly swam into his arm. His wrist glowed and then his glove turned into a similar Bunyip Gauntlet to what his youngest cousin wore—aside from this one being blue. "What the hell?"

Then the frill holding the red artefact rammed it into Sly's chest. He yelped and coughed, a few specks of blood appearing on the ground in front of him. Oh god, he did _not_ miss that kind of abuse! All of a sudden, it felt like something was sliding down the inside of his throat and broke off into his arm. He looked down in time to see his wrist glowing a brilliant white color and looked down to see that he was wearing a red Bunyip Gauntlet!

"Now that we have the artefacts attached to the acquainted hosts, take them away," Karlos ordered.

"What? That's it!?" Sly shouted as he was dragged off. The guy dragging him had a merciless look on his face. That _was_ all they wanted right?

The feral and rabbit turned to Karlos. "Professor, why did we give them the artefacts?" the rabbit asked.

"Because, Mix, the artefacts need to be destroyed if we're going to do this according to plan. And in order to destroy them, they must consume a great amount of fear from their hosts."

…

Vite and Sly flew into the cell they were assigned to and the frills laughed at the sound of pain. "There's a lot more where that came from, _traitor_," one frill said, activating an energy barrier over the entrance of the cell. Sly got up and looked around, the walls suddenly closing in around him.

"…the closed cell. Why the closed cell?"

"Why _not_?" Vite asked. Then he noticed how his cousin was pacing around, stressfully. "Sly? You okay? You're looking kind of pale."

"I don't feel good."

Suddenly, a burst of fire exploded from Sly's hands and he slammed them together. The flames slightly touched the shoulders of Vite's shredded blue jacket. The two both shouted out in shock and pain and then Sly fell back into a corner. His head lurched forward as his hands flew to his chest.

"COME ON—THAT ALL YOU FRILLS GOT!?" he shouted.

"Don't push our luck, mate."

Another explosion of fire and Vite shot back when he saw how close they were to his face. "What's going on?" Sly shouted, painfully.

"Wait a sec, you're not...what's the term, again? _Claustrophobic,_ are you?"

"The frills know it too well."

Vite's eyes widened as he realized what was happening with the gauntlet. Fear fuels the gauntlet to an unimaginable level. So, in this case, if there is too much fear fueling the red gauntlet, Sly would just go supernova. He moved over to the barrier and punched it forcefully.

"LET US OUT! LET US OUT!"

It was a good thing that Vite and Sly were shouting for their lives and the fire was exploding, because it sent their saviors running over to the source of the noise.

"Sly? Vite?"

The two cousins swirled around hopefully and saw Ty and Ridge, in all their glory, running to the cell.

Sly hit the glass again, weakly. He was cutting off the oxygen—and there was a possibility he was killing Vite. The dreadfully small space was suffocating him right now. "Bro! Get us out of here!" he begged, his face was red, and a small bead of sweat appearing on his forehead. Another thing they noticed were giant flames jumping from the palms of his hands.

"Uh oh. Vite, what's happening?" Ty asked, freaking out as another explosion escaped his brother's hands and he yelped from the impulse, backing away and cowering in the corner again, clamping his hands together.

"I don't know! Panic attack maybe? But he's burning the air! Neither of us can _breathe!_"

"Get him to calm down! Just long enough for me to break you both outta there!" Ridge ordered, moving over to the controls.

"Sly, calm down. If the head honcho catches us using the gauntlets' powers then—" Vite fell to his knees, beginning to see black dots behind his eyes as he hyperventilated.

"I DON'T _CARE!_ I CAN'T _TAKE THIS ANYMORE!_" Sly screamed at the younger tiger, clasping his hands even tighter and trying his best to hide the massive amount of power pulsing through his left arm. However, his frustration and panic wasn't really helping anybody.

"Sly, just stay calm, I've almost cracked the code," Ridge said calmly, but really losing his mind. "Uh, hmm...I'll keep you distracted, don't worry. Favorite time of day?"

"Night. Matches my mood," he told her through his clenched jaw. Strangely, the rusty tiger's icy eyes started to lose some of their fear.

"Great! See? We're getting somewhere. Uh, favorite place? I can name a lot of these."

"Frill Neck Forest. It's the only place where I can get some inspiration." His unnaturally red face began to turn back to normal.

"Oh yeah, you're a drawer aren't ya—hence why you're left-handed...rrgh. You know what?" the dark tiger snarled as he got into a forward stance (Taekwondo reference—I used to take classes). He kicked up and jabbed into the panel, puncturing it. The energy barriers fell down allowing the two to escape. "I can't be bothered cracking this code."

Vite jumped out of the cell and fell face first into the ground gasping for oxygen. Then Sly fell to his knees, wiping his eyes and coughing.

"You okay, mate?" Vite asked, walking over and rubbing his cousin's back.

"I'm fine," the ruddy tiger said, struggling to his feet. Ridge squinted at his wrist and held it up to examine it.

"Sly, when did you get your hands on a Bunyip gauntlet?" he asked in bewilderment.

"A Bunyip Gauntlet!?" Ty exclaimed softly.

"It wasn't a gauntlet to start off with. It was a glowing red disk with a flame on it!"

"It was two of the artefacts!" the dark gold tiger shouted, lifting his arm up to reveal he had a blue one around his wrist. He tried to demonstrate his own power and a glowing stream of water smashed into Sly's face.

"Oops," he said, cringing.

"'Oops?' I needed that! Thank you, Vite!" Sly cried, hugging his cousin.

The sound of sirens went off. Why it is that Sly and Vite get caught once they make it to the center of the island, and they only go off when Ty and Ridge break them out of the cell?

"We gotta go," Ridge said. Since he already had a grip on Sly's wrist, he tightened the grip and dragged him down the corridor.

"Right behind you there, Ridge!" Vite exclaimed, grabbing his younger cousin's hand and running after them.

* * *

**That's it! Sly and Vite have the first two artefacts! Awesome! Now they just have to control the new power they have—plus water and fire don't go well. **


End file.
